Lawyer sues church after memories surface

Sydney, Australia --

JOHN Andrew Ellis says he was a high-flying lawyer at Baker&McKenzie when memories of childhood sexual abuse resurfaced and ruined his career.
The former equity partner lost his job in May last year after his partners found he was unable to manage staff.

Mr Ellis says this problem stemmed directly from 12 years of sexual abuse inflicted by a now deceased Catholic priest, Aidan Duggan.

But the church argues it cannot be held liable for any damages claim because Duggan was not employed by the Sydney Archdiocese. Rather, priests have "a contract with God" and not with their employer.

Mr Ellis's lawyers launched legal action in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday in a bid to extend the statute of limitations on the alleged abuse and sue the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney for damages and loss of income.

Mr Ellis, 44, claims the church was negligent and failed to protect him from the sexual advances of Duggan, who died in October last year. The alleged abuse dates back to 1974 when Mr Ellis was a 13-year-old altar boy in the Sydney parish of Bass Hill.

Advertisement:
He claims that between 1974 and 1979 he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Duggan, who was an assistant priest lent to the Sydney archdiocese from Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland.

Between 1979 and 1986, further alleged sexual assaults by Duggan occurred.

Read the article at NEWS.com.au Dated Jly 27, 2005

Search the web for this article